The Economy and Industry of Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Nord Pas de Calais’ Economy
Agriculture
Much of the region’s land is irrigated and is worked by modern agricultural machines, employing only a small percentage of the work force. It produces a variety of crops, including barley, flax, hops, oats, potatoes, sugar beets, wheat and vegetables. Local farms raise such livestock as cattle, hogs and horses. The region is a leading producer of pork. Boulogne is a major fishing port, but the activity declined in the late 20th century. Only 5% of the work force is employed in agriculture. The main crops are potatoes, chicory, garden peas, and green beans.
Industry
Coal mining once dominated the economy of the region, but declined precipitously after the Second World War. Nord-Pas-de-Calais is highly industrialized and now depends upon imported natural gas instead of coal. Its products include automobile parts, chemicals, machinery, processed food, textiles, and steel. The highly automated textile industry, which produces the leading manufactured products of the region, is centred around the towns of Armentiè, Lille, Roubaix and Tourcoing.
In the last decade, the economy the French region Nord Pas de Calais has known a general increase.
Nord-Pas-de-Calais became a major centre of heavy industry in the 19th century with coalmines, steel mills and traditional textile manufacture. It suffered badly in both World Wars and recovered less quickly than did other parts of France. In more recent years, it has been facing economic slumps as the mines closed, decline in the steel industry and major problems for the textile industry.
Between 1975-1984, the region lost over 130,000 jobs and unemployment rose to 14% of the working population, well above the national average. The region has, however, benefited from major government and European Union investment over the past 20 years. The opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994 was welcomed in the region as a means of boosting its prosperity. Tourism, particularly in Lille at the apex of the London-Brussels-Paris railway lines, has grown considerably, to the extent that in 2004, 7 million passengers used the Eurostar, as well as 2 million vehicles on the Eurotunnel.
In addition to the trains, in 2002, there were about 15 million passengers from the three major ferry ports of the region (Calais, Dunkirk and Boulogne-sur-Mer) Nevertheless some branches of the regions economy (such as industry, property building or tourism) have had problems with providing new jobs or even with keeping pre-existing employment.
But on the whole, the general economic trend of the Nord Pas de Calais region is quite similar to the economic situation of France. Nord Pas de Calais has an unemployment rate of 10%. This region also offers financial and physical support for people in need such as elderly people, disabled people and unemployed people.
Nord-Pas de Calais ranks first as host region for foreign companies with its 1,500 companies with foreign equity. The region ranks third in France in the number of businesses with over 500 employees.
The traditional sectors of coal mining, metalwork and textiles have undergone a major economic and social re-structuring in the last 25 years. Nowadays, six clusters of national and international dimension are identified in Nord-Pas de Calais which represent the core of the regional economy: technical textiles (“Uptex”); trade industries; health, nutrition and longevity; transport; domestic materials; and halieutics and fish. All of these clusters bring together public and private research for the development of innovations.
Some of the most significant economic activities in Nord Pas de Calais include:
- Three major ports: Boulogne, the first centre for seafood processing; Calais, the fourth largest port in continental Europe; and Dunkirk, France’s foremost steel port and the second trading port;
- The Channel Tunnel used by over 13 million travellers every year;
- The automotive and railway industries which employ over 40,000 people for the assembly and production of engines and transmissions;
- The first region in France for textiles with 30,000 employees;
- A leading European region for distance selling and e-commerce;
- A vigorous life science and healthcare market sector with 700 companies employing 17,500 people.
Second largest academy in France, the Nord-Pas de Calais region counts seven universities, 23 engineering schools and more than 150,000 students. 10% of the French engineers are educated in the region. 6,500 researchers, 300 public research centres and 85 corporate R&D sites prove the high concentration of R&D resources in the region.
Situated at the heart of the European economy, the Lille region provides direct access to the 100 million consumers that make up the markets of Northwest Europe, within a radius of 300 km. Within easy reach of Europe’s major decision centres, and thanks to first-rate transportation systems and networks (motorways, high speed TGV trains, international airport, Channel Tunnel, sea ports, road-rail platforms), the Nord Pas-de-Calais region lies at the intersection between Paris, Brussels, London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt.
The region accounts for over 5% of total French GDP, and is the 3rd leading economic region in France (not including Ile-de-France). It is the 2nd leading region for exports. Outside the Ile-de-France region, the Nord-Pas-de-Calais is the 2nd leading industrial region in France and has several centres of industrial excellence (automotive, rail, logistics, agro-industries, healthcare-biotechnologies, etc.). These centres demonstrate its rich and diverse economy, and its high capacity for flexibility and innovation: over 124,673 companies are currently based in the Lille region.
Lille is the 3rd most important financial market in France. It offers investors an array of financial service providers that are able to cater to all business requirements: over 600 chartered accountants and auditors, and representatives the largest accounting firms in the region. It also has a diverse banking sector, with over 80 financial establishments and a regional stock exchange platform. It is the 2nd leading insurance centre in France (company headquarters such as La Mondiale, Lloyd Continental, etc.).
Lille is a distribution centre for major companies, and it is also Europe’s biggest home-shopping distribution platform, with the highest concentration of market leaders in Europe: La Redoute, 3 Suisses, Quelles France, etc.
Finally, as well as being France’s 2nd largest university campus and accounting for 11% of the total number of French engineers, the Nord_Pas-de-Calais region has 6 designated clusters that bring together private companies, research laboratories and universities: I-Trans, Nutrition-Santé-Longévité (Nutrition-Health-Longevity), Matériaux à Usage Domestique (Domestic materials), Aquatique (Aquatics), UP-Tex, Industry and commerce clusters.
These advantages form the basis of the region’s industrial and market strength, and its key position in Europe.
Nord-Pas-de-Calais was the 3rd leading region for inward FDI in 2006 (excluding the Ile-de-France), accounting for over 7% of the total number of jobs created (2,853 jobs). The region has a policy of welcoming foreign investment projects, and in 2006, it won major development projects in the call centre (Bertelsmann, Creditsafe) and pharmaceutical sectors (GSK Biologicals), and the development of a new Ikea site at Hénin Beaumont.
Industry
Nord-Pas-de-Calais has a long tradition of industrial activity, centred on industries such as textiles and clothing manufacturing, iron and steel production, and heavy metallurgy and coal mining. Some of these and related industries (such as organic chemicals) have now disappeared. Those still in existence have been reorganized for efficiency. Although the area was once France’s leading coal producer, coal mining has ceased. Steel production has been largely transferred to the coastal site of Dunkirk, and the textile industry is of greatly diminished importance. Industrial decline has also left a legacy of urban decay and derelict land.
Considerable efforts have been made to bring new industrial activity to the area and to diversify its economy. This policy has led to the development of an automobile industry at Douai and Onnaing. The service sector has also expanded, notably in Lille, which is now a major regional business and administrative centre. In the west of the region, Calais and Boulogne are hubs of economic activity. Port commerce at Boulogne has declined, partly as a result of the opening in 1994 of the Channel Tunnel, the undersea rail tunnel that connects Sangatte (near Calais) with Folkestone, England. Calais, however, still accommodates considerable cross-channel traffic, and the Channel Tunnel terminal is now the focus of a large commercial complex.
Nord-Pas-de-Calais has long benefited from its “crossroads” position, which has been reinforced by improvements made to the transportation infrastructure. The region is served by a series of motorways, connecting to cities such as Paris and Reims. Rail links have been greatly enhanced by the development of the high-speed train (train à grande vitesse; TGV), with a line from Paris to the Channel Tunnel terminal. Lille is a major interchange station, with a regional airport to the south, while Calais and Dunkirk remain important seaports. Nord-Pas-de-Calais has a network of canals, but they are now seldom used for the transport of raw materials or manufactured goods
One of the smallest French regions, but with the densest population after Ile de France, Nord-Pas-De-Calais is largely industrialised and 35% of its population work in heavy industry, although much of this industry is in decline. Historically, the region has been heavily dependent on coalmines, as well as the iron, steel and metallurgical industries, which employed a high percentage of the work force. Since the mines and many of the plants closed, unemployment has increased, and remains well above the national average. A concerted effort is being made to re-employ these workers by attracting new investment to the area. This includes tax incentives, grants, free enterprise zones, and low-interest loans.
Extensive mill closures in the 1960s
The North used to hum with rattling looms and smoking mill chimneys, meeting a sizeable part of France's demand for cloth, Today the big mills have closed, but 30% of all French textile manufacturing still takes place here.
Textiles, the garment industry, and fashion design are inextricably linked. The North is still a world centre for manufacturedlace. Today there are many new jobs in distributing ready-to-wear clothing, especially in mail-order sales.
Making textiles by machine
In the 18th century many cotton and linen mills were opened in the Lille area. Roubaix and Tourcoing just north of Lille specialised in wool. Often borrowing ideas from English inventors and manufacturers, these mills used new machines powered by waterwheels.
The turmoil of the French Revolution in 1789 delayed industrial development - people with money fled the country, and life was too uncertain to invest in building new businesses. When Napoleon became Emperor, he encouraged industry, and his blockade protected the North's textile mills from English competition. They were quick to copy all the new British inventions as soon as spies spread news across the Channel.
The Industrial Revolution comes to France
After Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo in 1815, more and more steam-powered mills were being built in the North - again, often borrowing English inventions. Cheap coal brought by canal barge from the Nord coal basin. The Lille area became dirty with smoke and pollution. It was like the Manchester of northern France - with equally appalling and unhealthy slums.
Rich and poor
While textile workers lived in slums on poverty wages, mill-owners amassed enormous fortunes and lived in luxury mansions. Socialist ideas became popular amongst workers in the Lille area from the 1890s, but there remained a yawning gap between rich and poor.
First World War
Lille, Roubaix, Tourcoing and most of the textile towns were occupied by the Germans during the First World War, when the industry was looted to help the enemy war effort.
In the 1920's production boomed as the mills were rebuilt and re-equipped on modern lines using German war reparations money. But the world slump of the 1930's saw bitter strikes as owners sought to cut wages and worsen conditions.
During the German occupation 1914 - 1918, textile mills were stripped of machinery that was transported to Germany.
Death of textile mills
As in Britain, Nord-pas-de-Calais’ textile mills suffered in the world depression of the 1930s, and boomed in the reconstruction after World War 2. But in the late 'fifties, the relentless flood of cheap imports drove most of them out of business. Just like the textile mills of Lancashire and Yorkshire, they could not stand the competition.
Making lace for the aristocracy
In the 16th century, it was fashionable for lords and ladies in the French court to wear lace ornamentation, but it had to be imported from Venice.
State support
Louis XIV's minister Colbert wanted to make France wealthier by using state funds to encourage luxury industries. In 1665 he brought in some Venetian lace makers and set up schools of lace making to train French craftsmen. Making fine lace became an important craft industry - it was hand-made by thousands of craftspeople in their own homes or in small workshops. 18th century smugglers took French lace into England, to avoid heavy import taxes.
Effects of the French Revolution
Abruptly French lace-makers lost their best customers: French aristocrats fled into exile for fear of the guillotine. Under the Republic and Napoleon, plainer clothes became the fashion - lace was not wanted. Many unemployed workmen were glad to be conscripted into Napoleon's army to fight in endless wars.
Making lace for the world
If you see a lace dress at a wedding, chances are that lace was woven in Calais or in Caudry, near Cambrai. Actually 20% of the lace is used in wedding and cocktail dresses, and other high-fashion designer dresses; 80% is used for fine lingerie.
In Calais there are today about 700 looms employing 3,000 workers. The two town's lace factories export about ¾ of their output to 140 countries.
Inventing a machine to make lace
Back in 1812, at the height of the Napoleonic Wars, a machine to make lace was invented in England by John Leavers. The basis of his machine was the Elizabethan "stocking frame", invented c.1589 by a Nottingham vicar, Rev. William Lee, to help his wife knit stockings. It worked a bit like "French knitting", where children make a knitted tube by winding wool round nails on top of a cotton reel.
Industrial Revolution
The original English "Leavers Machine" was only 50 cm wide, but it made cheaper mass-produced lace for small garments. At that time many new inventions were transforming industry in Britain - textile machines, steam engines, iron-making... This was the age of the Industrial Revolution, and Britain was the "Silicon Valley" of those days.
Industrial secrets
Foreign lace makers could not get hold of the Leavers Machine. To protect valuable industrial secrets, the British government banned export of such new machines on punishment of death, just as the USA later banned exports of computers to Russia.
Skills and technology smuggled from England
In 1816 - just after the end of the Napoleonic wars - three skilled workmen from Nottingham, Clark, Webster and Bonnington, thought there might be a better future in France. They smuggled some machinery over to Calais, and were helped to set up a new machine-lace workshops.
They escaped from bitter opposition to their new machines back in England. Thousands of poor workers in Nottingham made lace by hand at home, and feared the new machines would deprive them of a living. There were bitter "Luddite" riots in which soldiers guarded the new mills against machine-vandals.
In Calais, the emigrant English workmen found people keen to work for them - the port was impoverished after losing its trade during the French wars. The French aristocracy had returned, so a revival in trade for luxury lace looked likely.
By the 1820's the new Calais lace workshops were flourishing. Protected by heavy tariffs on most imported goods, they didn't need to worry about competition from England.
English ex-patriots built rows of terraced houses in the St-Pierre district of Calais with space for their workshops. Some also went to Caudry, near Cambrai, and opened lace factories there. In Calais the industry is still in the hands of family businesses - many with distant English origins. People in Calais still eat Christmas puddings and Welsh rarebit (cheese on toast), customs the English lace-makers brought to the town.